This invention relates to a display method and apparatus of information retrieval system for displaying information necessary for finding business and other establishment of interest, and more particularly, to a display method and apparatus of information retrieval system such as navigation system for displaying information which assists in searching points of interest related to an area which is remote not familiar to a user without requiring entering a new name of point of interest.
A vehicle navigation system performs vehicle travel guidance for enabling a driver to easily drive the vehicle to a selected destination. Such a navigation system detects the position of the vehicle, reads out map data pertaining to an area at the vehicle current position from a data storage medium, for example, a CD-ROM (compact disk read-only memory) or a DVD (digital videodisc), and displays a map image on a monitor (display) screen while superposing a mark representing the current location of the vehicle on a predetermined portion of the map image.
The vehicle position is determined by a self-contained navigation sensors (e.g. a distance traveled sensor and a bearing sensor) mounted in the vehicle or by a global positioning system (GPS) including a satellite (satellite navigation). The satellite enables absolute position detection and higher position accuracy than the self-contained navigation sensors. However, the satellite navigation involves problem of position detection failure such as in a tunnel or a building where the satellite radio signals are obstructed. Therefore, recent navigation systems utilize both self-contained navigation and satellite navigation to achieve improved performances.
As the present position of the vehicle changes with the travel of the vehicle, the vehicle current position mark in the map image on the screen is changed accordingly. Alternatively, the map is scrolled while the vehicle current position mark is fixed at a predetermined position, for example, at the center of the image. In either of the methods, the navigation system enables the driver to recognize the map information of the area at the vehicle position at a glance.
When a destination is not set, such as navigation system functions as a locator map which indicates the current location of the vehicle in a map image. When the destination is set, the navigation system starts a route guidance function for setting a guided route from the starting point to the destination. Typically, the route guidance function performs an intersection guidance process in which a monitor screen displays an enlarged intersection diagram and the direction in which the vehicle is to travel while displaying the guide route on a map. When a destination is input, a CPU in the navigation system determines the most suitable guided route from the current vehicle position to the destination and successively stores nodes (expressed in longitude and latitude) constituting the guided route in a memory.
During actual traveling, the node series stored in the memory is searched for a portion of the guided route to be displayed in a map display area of the monitor screen, and the portion of the guided route is highlighted so as to be discriminable from other routes. When the vehicle is within a predetermined distance of an intersection it is approaching, an intersection guidance diagram (an enlarged or highlighted intersection diagram with an arrow indicating the direction in which the vehicle is to turn at the intersection) is displayed to inform a driver of the desired one of roads or directions selectable at the intersection.
FIG. 1A shows an example of a locator map display containing a vehicle current position mark VCP on a map image 21. Typically, a navigation system shows the street on which the vehicle is running in the map image 21 and a name of the street such as xe2x80x9cW 190TH STxe2x80x9d in an information box 23 on the monitor screen. Other information such as a north pointer NP, a map scale and a current time may also be illustrated on the display screen. In this manner, the locator map display shows the current position of the vehicle on the map image, however, it does not perform the route guidance function because the destination is not set in the navigation system.
FIG. 1B shows an example of route guidance display which performs the route guidance function. The route guidance display is activated after specifying the destination of travel. In addition to the map image 21 similar to the locator map of FIG. 1A, this example further shows an arrow indicating the direction (left) in which the vehicle is to turn at the intersection in a guidance information box 22 at the top of the screen. The guidance information box 22 also shows a name of the street xe2x80x9cPRAIRIE AVExe2x80x9d which intersects with the current street xe2x80x9cW 190TH STxe2x80x9d and a distance to the intersection. Thus, the navigation system indicates that the vehicle should make a left turn at the intersection with xe2x80x9cPRAIRIE AVExe2x80x9d. Typically, the current street xe2x80x9cW 190TH STxe2x80x9d and the left side of the street xe2x80x9cPRAIRIE AVExe2x80x9d will be highlighted in the map image 21. Further, such route guidance is accompanied by spoken instructions. If the direction of travel in the next intersection is left, the navigation system gives spoken guidance such as xe2x80x9cturn left at the next intersectionxe2x80x9d. In this example, an information box 24 at the bottom of the display screen includes information regarding the remaining distance to the final destination and an estimated time to reach the final destination.
In order to be guided by the route guidance mode such as shown in FIG. 1B, a destination must be specified in the navigation system so that the system can find one or more routes to get to the destination. FIGS. 2A-2F show examples of display shown on the monitor screen during the operation of inputting the destination.
By operating a menu key, a main menu 25 such as shown in FIG. 2A is displayed on the navigation system and a menu item xe2x80x9cDestinationxe2x80x9d is selected from the main menu. This allows the navigation system to display a xe2x80x9cEnter Destination byxe2x80x9d menu 27 as shown in FIG. 2B for specifying an input method for selecting the destination. The xe2x80x9cEnter Destination byxe2x80x9d menu 27 lists various methods for selecting the destination including xe2x80x9cAddressxe2x80x9d for specifying the city and address of the destination, xe2x80x9cIntersectionxe2x80x9d for specifying the names of two streets in the city which intersect with one another, and xe2x80x9cPoint of Interestxe2x80x9d for selecting the programmed destination based on the name, category or telephone number.
Other methods in the xe2x80x9cEnter Destination byxe2x80x9d menu 27 include xe2x80x9cRecent Routexe2x80x9d for specifying the destination based on the recent destinations saved in the navigation system, xe2x80x9cAddress Bookxe2x80x9d for selecting the address of the destination out of the addresses stored in the system, and xe2x80x9cMap Cursorxe2x80x9d for specifying the destination by pointing a cursor to the destination on the map. For example, the information in the address book is formed of a list of names and addresses of the places that the driver frequently visits.
When selecting, for example, the xe2x80x9cPoint of Interestxe2x80x9d in FIG. 2B, the navigation system displays a xe2x80x9cCategory Listxe2x80x9d menu 28 such as shown in FIG. 2C. The xe2x80x9cCategory Listxe2x80x9d menu 28 contains various different categories such as xe2x80x9cBankxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cRestaurantxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cHotelxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cShoppingxe2x80x9d and others. Supposing the category xe2x80x9cShoppingxe2x80x9d is selected, the navigation system displays xe2x80x9cName Listxe2x80x9d such as shown in FIGS. 2D and 2E. The xe2x80x9cName Listxe2x80x9d shows names of shops and shopping malls sorted by, for example, distance from the vehicle. In an address information box 31 on the display, the address and phone number of the highlighted name in the list 33 will be displayed. The address information box 31 may also show the distance to the highlighted shop. Typically, the navigation system stores several tens or hundreds of names of shops within predetermined distances and displays several shops per page of display screen, and a user may scroll the display screen to see other names of shops in the name list 36 such as shown in FIG. 2E.
When the destination is not prestored in the navigation system, a user can input the destination by selecting, for example, the xe2x80x9cAddressxe2x80x9d method or xe2x80x9cIntersectionxe2x80x9d method in the xe2x80x9cEnter Destination byxe2x80x9d menu 27 of FIG. 2B. Then, the navigation system displays an xe2x80x9cEnter Street Namexe2x80x9d shown in FIG. 2F for inputting the city and address in an address input box 37 by means of a key board (keypad) 38 displayed on the monitor screen.
After inputting the destination, the navigation system determines a route to the destination based on, for example, by finding the shortest way to reach the destination. Thus, the navigation system moves to the route guidance display such as shown in FIG. 1B which performs the route guidance function. As noted above, the process of specifying the destination requires the driver to look at the information on the display screen such as shown in FIGS. 2A-2C, or scroll the display such as shown in FIGS. 2D and 2E, or even input the destination through the key board such as shown in FIG. 2F. Therefore, this process takes time and sometimes burdensome for the driver.
Such a process of specifying a destination is simplified by using an xe2x80x9cAddress Bookxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cRecent Routexe2x80x9d menu because such menu stores lists of pre-registered destination. Typically, such pre-registered destination lists include names and addresses of places that the driver frequently visits. Thus, the driver can simply select the name in the xe2x80x9cAddress Bookxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cRecent Routexe2x80x9d menu.
When a driver is in an area which is far away from his/her ordinary living and working area (hereafter xe2x80x9chome areaxe2x80x9d, because of a business trip or the like, the data in the xe2x80x9cAddress Bookxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cRecent Routexe2x80x9d cannot be used since this data is limited to the home area. In many occasions, a driver who is in a new area wants to go to a nearby store or bank, and etc., with the same name as he/she frequently visits in the home area.
In such a situation, the driver has to input new data even though the name of such a store, bank, or the like is in the address book or recent route menu such as shown in FIG. 2B. This is because the address book menu or recent route menu contains exact locations of the actual and possible destinations established by the user. Therefore, the addresses in the address book or recent route menu do not match the addresses of the new area even though the names are identical to one another.
As an example, suppose a driver who lives and works in San Francisco (home area) is now driving a car in Los Angeles area, he/she cannot use the information in the xe2x80x9cAddress Bookxe2x80x9d because the information in the address book is ordinarily limited to the places in the home area. Frequently, a driver wants to go to a branch office of his bank, a favorite restaurant chain, hotel or supermarket with membership benefits and the like when he/she is far away from the home area. Other example of occasion that the driver wants to visit places having the same type of business or name without regard to locations arises when he/she wants to see or collect unique goods such as antiques.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle navigation system which enables a driver to easily operate the navigation system for specifying a destination in an area remote from his/her home area without inputting a name of the point of interest.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle navigation system which enables a driver to quickly enter a destination in an area far away from his/her home area with use of a specially made list such as xe2x80x9cPreferred Listxe2x80x9d listing representative names of business chains.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle navigation system which enables a driver to quickly enter a destination in an area far away from his/her home area with use of pre-registered data such as xe2x80x9cAddress Bookxe2x80x9d listing names and addresses in the home area.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a vehicle navigation system which is able to quickly specify the destination in a new area having the same name as that in the home area.
The navigation system is designed to enable a user quickly find and select the destination in a new area based on the names or places used in his/her home area. The navigation system includes a search method for searching a point of interest based on other input methods, such as a list of preferred names specially created for this purpose or based on a list of registered points already created and used in his/her home area.
In one aspect of the present invention, the display method of a vehicle navigation system enables a user to specify the destination through a xe2x80x9cpreferred listxe2x80x9d menu in which a list of preferred names of the destination is created separately from other lists of names.
The method includes steps of forming a set of data listing names of business chains (hereafter xe2x80x9cpreferred listxe2x80x9d), displaying a destination selection menu including a search method based on data stored in a storage medium (point of interest data) on a screen of the navigation system wherein the selection menu includes the preferred list, selecting the preferred list in the destination selection menu, displaying the list of names in the preferred list on the screen of the navigation system, selecting one of the names in the preferred list shown on the screen, examining the point of interest data in the storage medium and displaying a set of places within a predetermined distance from a current vehicle position having the same name selected from the preferred list, and specifying one of the places displayed on the screen as a destination.
In another aspect of the present invention, the display method of the present invention enables a user to specify the destination through a xe2x80x9cfind similar placexe2x80x9d menu in the process of destination selection. This method does not require to create a specific name list such as the xe2x80x9cpreferred listxe2x80x9d but can use a pre-existing name list such as an xe2x80x9caddress bookxe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9crecent routexe2x80x9d.
The method includes the steps of displaying a destination selection menu on a screen of the navigation system to show a search method based on registered points (xe2x80x9caddress bookxe2x80x9d) or destination history (xe2x80x9crecent routexe2x80x9d) in the navigation system created by a user, selecting one of the menu of either the address book or recent route and specifying a provisional (first) destination from a list of names in the selected menu, displaying the provisional destination on a confirmation screen of the navigation system wherein the confirmation screen includes a menu for searching places similar to the provisional destination (xe2x80x9cfind similar placexe2x80x9d menu), selecting the xe2x80x9cfind similar placexe2x80x9d menu, examining point of interest data in a storage medium for searching places similar to the provisional destination and displaying a set of places similar to the provisional destination, and specifying one of the places displayed on the screen as a final destination.
A further aspect of the present invention is a display apparatus of a vehicle navigation system. The display apparatus is configured by various means for achieving the display methods described above which utilizes the xe2x80x9cpreferred listxe2x80x9d menu for finding the destination in an area remote from the home area of the user. A further aspect of the present invention is another display apparatus of a vehicle navigation system. The display apparatus is configured by various means for achieving the display methods described above which utilizes the xe2x80x9cfind similar placexe2x80x9d menu for finding the destination in an area remote from the home area of the user.
According to the present invention, the vehicle navigation system enables the driver to operate the navigation system within a short period of time for specifying the destination with use of the name list having names of business chains or the pre-existing data concerning the home area. Thus, the driver can easily select a branch office of his bank, a favorite restaurant chain, membership hotel or the like, when he/she is far away from the home area. The navigation system is able to specify the destination of travel by a small number of key movements without affecting the driving.